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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - North America, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌎️

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📰 Important News

• Deel’s comms chief Elisabeth Diana resigned following the release of the ex-Rippling employee’s Affidavit detailing his interactions with Alex Bouaziz.

• President Trump postponed the enforcement of the TikTok sale-or-ban law for 75 days after China tariffs disrupted a deal.

• Klarna and StubHub delayed their IPOs and investor roadshows due to market turmoil after President Trump’s tariff announcement.

• Automattic, maker of WordPress and Tumblr, laid off 16% of staff due to market competition, restructuring, and inefficiencies.

• OpenAI has delayed the release of GPT-5 and announced the launch of o3 and o4-mini in a couple of weeks.

💸 Top Funding Rounds

• OpenAI secured $40 billion at a $300 billion post-money valuation in a round led by SoftBank to scale its AI infrastructure and support the Stargate project.

• Plaid raised $575 million at a $6.1 billion valuation, down from $13.4 billion, delaying its IPO to address RSU expiration and offer employee liquidity.

• ReliaQuest secured over $500 million at a $3.4 billion valuation to scale its AI-driven GreyMatter platform and global reach.

• Silicon Ranch has obtained a $500 million investment from AIP Management to support its clean energy and community solar projects.

• Runway raised $308 million led by General Atlantic to enhance AI research and develop new media tools including AI-driven film studios.

💰️ Notable Exits

• Circle filed for an IPO, reporting $1.68 billion in revenue and $157 million in net income, aiming for more transparency in the stablecoin market.

• Candiru was acquired by Integrity Partners for up to $30 million, restructuring to bypass U.S. sanctions and address declining business.

• Epic Games acquired Loci, an AI platform for 3D asset tagging, to aid creators and detect IP violations in its ecosystem.

• CloudBolt acquired StormForge to integrate its machine learning-powered Kubernetes optimization into CloudBolt's FinOps platform.

• AvaSure acquired Nurse Disrupted to expand AI-powered virtual care solutions and improve patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency.

🏦 About Investors

• Construct Capital has raised a $300 million third fund to invest in defense and manufacturing tech startups.

• Ballistic Ventures, co-founded by Ted Schlein, is raising $100 million for a new fund targeting cybersecurity startups.

• Kensington acquired One9 to launch a defense tech VC platform, targeting national security and defense startups amid rising global tensions.

🚀 Startup of the Week

Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆

OpenAI

OpenAI, founded in 2015 by Sam Altman and others, is a leading AI research organization based in San Francisco, dedicated to developing safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the good of all humanity. The company has raised $40 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank, reaching a $300 billion post-money valuation. This investment will help scale OpenAI’s infrastructure—including the Stargate project, a nationwide network of AI data centers—and accelerate its mission to deliver powerful AI tools to over 500 million weekly ChatGPT users.

💼 Investor of the Week

Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆

Construct Capital

Construct Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2020 by Dayna Grayson and Rachel Holt, has raised $300 million for its third fund to invest in startups innovating within critical industries such as manufacturing, defense, and logistics. The firm focuses on companies applying software, automation, AI, and connected hardware to transform these foundational sectors, believing it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild industries left behind by previous investments. With a concentrated portfolio and dedicated support, Construct Capital aims to partner with entrepreneurs building long-term solutions in these essential fields, reflecting growing institutional interest amid geopolitical tensions and the push for domestic manufacturing.

🤑 Opportunity Radar

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